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G. Skill 256GB Titan SSD in my MacBook Pro... Thoughts, Benchmarks, Pics, & Ramblings
- Thread starter spaceballl
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Anandtech reckon that the X25-M has an idle power consumption of 0.06W, and that this is similar to other SSD drives. I can't actually find the quoted idle power consumption of the Titan - anyone able to confirm from the product manual?
If true this is far lower than a conventional hard drive and I can't understand a result of 20% less battery life - unless perhaps it uses a lot of power when read/writing. Even so, a 20% impact on battery life - you'd have to be doing a lot of reading/writing?!
If true this is far lower than a conventional hard drive and I can't understand a result of 20% less battery life - unless perhaps it uses a lot of power when read/writing. Even so, a 20% impact on battery life - you'd have to be doing a lot of reading/writing?!
I'll say the Titan runs warm - kind of like a 7200 RPM drive, but overly so. I'd also think that future drives would do a better job on power consumption.
I just checked newegg- the price went up again. It's now $549. I think the price is going in the wrong direction...
I just checked newegg- the price went up again. It's now $549. I think the price is going in the wrong direction...
Been MIA for a week or so and I haven't had a chance to post!
I've now had the Titan for a few weeks. The battery life seems to be about ten to twenty percent worse.
Should just be the earlier batch. Theoretically, it should take a lot less power to run these than a mechanical hard drive. The power optimization on these drives isn't yet that great.
Not listed! I'm thinking G. Skill figured this wouldn't be that good of a number so they didn't print it. Shady...
Yup i'd say your heat estimate is about accurate.
Nice! Looks like the corsair is a great product! I just wish it came in 256GB and were a bit more economical. Hopefully in a year I can get a 256GB SSD that's faster than my Titan and consumes half the power of your Corsair 
I'm still waiting for my RMA replacement from Newegg... They have my old drive, just seems to take three or four days to send a replacement. Hopefully it will be pushed out tomorrow...
The way I see it - in a year, you'll be able to buy a SSD with perf numbers that blow away SATA 3.0Gb/s for half the price we're paying for the Titan today.
Think about it - by the time the 3rd quarter rolls around, the controller issue will be solved, and that will really drive down prices...
Any bet takers?
The way I see it - in a year, you'll be able to buy a SSD with perf numbers that blow away SATA 3.0Gb/s for half the price we're paying for the Titan today.
Think about it - by the time the 3rd quarter rolls around, the controller issue will be solved, and that will really drive down prices...
Any bet takers?
Please post experience. I'm still unable to get my computer to sleep without locking up and G.Skill have been responsive by email but basically have said if it doesn't work with the mac then they won't support it.
(see their reply to my review at newegg: they recommend windows only - not very encouraging.)
I continue to be impressed with performance, but this bug is concerning and I hope G.SKill will step up and support the product, replacing it with a model that does support Mac if needed. Will report back how they resolve it.
(see their reply to my review at newegg: they recommend windows only - not very encouraging.)
I continue to be impressed with performance, but this bug is concerning and I hope G.SKill will step up and support the product, replacing it with a model that does support Mac if needed. Will report back how they resolve it.
I think the Samsung 256GB drives will be below $700 within a month or two. I recommend waiting.
There is a way to get the samsung drive cheaper, but it takes some work. Aparently Dell is using the samsungs in their laptops if you customize them with the 256 ssd option. It only adds $400 to the price. You can build a 13 inch laptop for about $1145 after 20% of that they are currently running, including shipping, tax, and the ssd. You can then swap the ssd with a regular drive for $80 and then sell the laptop. You would have invested $1225 total. If you could sell the new laptop for $700 which should be very easy. The ssd would only effectively cost you $525 (or more or less depending on how much you sold the laptop for.
Something to think about...
Something to think about...
I dont have the sleep issue at all..
I am using smartsleep though.. I don't know if that makes a difference.
I am using smartsleep though.. I don't know if that makes a difference.
My replacement is on the way - but I have a question on this approach -
Why bother booting from the install DVD? Why not take out the old drive, put in the new, then boot up by the old drive via firewire? That would save the hassle of booting the install dvd (and avoid using the 10.5.1 release of mac os compared to the more recent 10.5.6). Can you not use restore off a running image?
I don't, and I have the "sleep" slider on never so drives never get put to sleep that wayl
Keep in mind that by booting off the install DVD, and going to disk utility, you don't actually install anything from the OS, so you don't need to worry about the version of OS X. You just use disk utility to clone the drive. Plus, I am thinking it should be a faster copy this way since you're not booting off the drive you're cloning, but that's just speculation. Anyhow, your way should work too. This is just the way that worked for me hassle free. It's been about a month now and I'm still liking my SSD purchase and I haven't had any issues.... (except for the worse battery life)
My Experience So Far with the G.SKILL Titan 256 GB SSD
Just wanted to leave a quick post to let everyone know how my Titan's been working out.
I simply dropped mine into my MB Pro (see signature below for details) and then booted off the original 10.5.1 Install DVD. I used Disk Utility to partition and then format (Apple says erase) the drive. Once this was complete, I simply did a restore from my Time Capsule via Time Machine and I was ready to go.
I have had no issues with OS X whatsoever and love the snappiness and response of the system.
I previously used--and still do--a Black MacBook mid 2007 machine with an original OCZ Core series 128 GB SSD drive, so I'm used to a very responsive system. I also had no issues under OS X on the MB, but did notice an occasional stall when running Windows XP in a Parallels Desktop VM.
On the MB Pro, I have seen some definite slowdowns on the Titan when in Windows XP under Parallels, but am not sure if it's an SSD issue or not as Windows was acting up on my spinning hard drive, too, before I installed the Titan. I'm getting ready to do a fresh VM on the Titan to see if that addresses the issue. Just an FYI, if Windows stalls, the whole machine, including OS X will stall. I have only experienced these stalls when Windows XP is running. Without the VM running I have had no such stalls.
So far, I've been running with the Titan for just under a month now and am very happy with it. My MB Pro is definitely significantly cooler with the Titan than the spinning hard drive. It is my main work machine and is on for a minimum of 10 hours a day and it only gets slightly warm to the touch over the drive area on the palm rest. Really, just enough warmth to register a temperature difference.
As far as battery run times, I haven't really noticed much of a difference, but I don't run on battery very often. I would tend to think that the battery's run time being reduced is more related to the processor being able to do more work in less time because it's being supplied data at a considerably faster rate rather than any actual increase in power consumption by the SSD; however, that's just my opinion based on what I've read so far regarding this issue.
Finally, here are some performance numbers from Xbench:
Before - 7200 rpm Seagate 320 GB Spinning Hard Drive
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.6 (9G55)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,1
Drive Type ST9320421AS
Disk Test 50.91
Sequential 105.72
Uncached Write 97.29 59.73 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 127.79 72.30 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 76.50 22.39 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 150.16 75.47 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 33.53
Uncached Write 10.60 1.12 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 141.99 45.45 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 89.04 0.63 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 148.93 27.64 MB/sec [256K blocks]
After - G.SKILL Titan 256GB SSD
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.6 (9G55)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,1
Drive Type G.SKILL TITAN 256GB SSD
Disk Test 77.13
Sequential 98.59
Uncached Write 200.65 123.19 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 164.04 92.81 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 38.53 11.28 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 282.71 142.09 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 63.35
Uncached Write 18.05 1.91 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 176.44 56.49 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1460.65 10.35 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 717.17 133.08 MB/sec [256K blocks]
As you can see, that's just a bit more than a 50% speed increase!
Just wanted to leave a quick post to let everyone know how my Titan's been working out.
I simply dropped mine into my MB Pro (see signature below for details) and then booted off the original 10.5.1 Install DVD. I used Disk Utility to partition and then format (Apple says erase) the drive. Once this was complete, I simply did a restore from my Time Capsule via Time Machine and I was ready to go.
I have had no issues with OS X whatsoever and love the snappiness and response of the system.
I previously used--and still do--a Black MacBook mid 2007 machine with an original OCZ Core series 128 GB SSD drive, so I'm used to a very responsive system. I also had no issues under OS X on the MB, but did notice an occasional stall when running Windows XP in a Parallels Desktop VM.
On the MB Pro, I have seen some definite slowdowns on the Titan when in Windows XP under Parallels, but am not sure if it's an SSD issue or not as Windows was acting up on my spinning hard drive, too, before I installed the Titan. I'm getting ready to do a fresh VM on the Titan to see if that addresses the issue. Just an FYI, if Windows stalls, the whole machine, including OS X will stall. I have only experienced these stalls when Windows XP is running. Without the VM running I have had no such stalls.
So far, I've been running with the Titan for just under a month now and am very happy with it. My MB Pro is definitely significantly cooler with the Titan than the spinning hard drive. It is my main work machine and is on for a minimum of 10 hours a day and it only gets slightly warm to the touch over the drive area on the palm rest. Really, just enough warmth to register a temperature difference.
As far as battery run times, I haven't really noticed much of a difference, but I don't run on battery very often. I would tend to think that the battery's run time being reduced is more related to the processor being able to do more work in less time because it's being supplied data at a considerably faster rate rather than any actual increase in power consumption by the SSD; however, that's just my opinion based on what I've read so far regarding this issue.
Finally, here are some performance numbers from Xbench:
Before - 7200 rpm Seagate 320 GB Spinning Hard Drive
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.6 (9G55)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,1
Drive Type ST9320421AS
Disk Test 50.91
Sequential 105.72
Uncached Write 97.29 59.73 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 127.79 72.30 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 76.50 22.39 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 150.16 75.47 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 33.53
Uncached Write 10.60 1.12 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 141.99 45.45 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 89.04 0.63 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 148.93 27.64 MB/sec [256K blocks]
After - G.SKILL Titan 256GB SSD
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.6 (9G55)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,1
Drive Type G.SKILL TITAN 256GB SSD
Disk Test 77.13
Sequential 98.59
Uncached Write 200.65 123.19 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 164.04 92.81 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 38.53 11.28 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 282.71 142.09 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 63.35
Uncached Write 18.05 1.91 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 176.44 56.49 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1460.65 10.35 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 717.17 133.08 MB/sec [256K blocks]
As you can see, that's just a bit more than a 50% speed increase!
I have one question with this driver prior to purchase. I like to boot directly into Vista 64bit when i want to play some light gaming. I've heard this SSD has problems doing so, does any have any experience with this or know if its true?
Thanks
Thanks
OK, I just got my replacement today... Took long enough.
I'll change the disk out as described on this thread (insert the drive and restore via setup disk) and let you know how it goes.
I'm going to set it up with Bootcamp to start. That sounds like I'm babying the drive a bit, but meh, it will get better over time.
Wish me luck! I'll write up a newegg review no matter what this says.
I'll change the disk out as described on this thread (insert the drive and restore via setup disk) and let you know how it goes.
I'm going to set it up with Bootcamp to start. That sounds like I'm babying the drive a bit, but meh, it will get better over time.
Wish me luck! I'll write up a newegg review no matter what this says.